Information Society Strategies in the European Context: The Case of Greece

This article sets out to analyze the policies adopted by the Greek government in its effort to accelerate the pace of reform towards a knowledge-based economy. These policies have to take into account the position that the country occupies within the emerging information society and, of course, the opportunities created by EU initiatives that aim to promote economic competitiveness and reduce regional disparities. Within this framework Greek policy makers have recognized the need for a coordinated, coherent and integrated approach, which attempts to diminish inequalities both within the country and with respect to other European Union economies. What emerges as a distinctive feature of the Greek information society strategy is the emphasis placed on the pivotal role of the state and the adoption of active interventionist policies

Global Innovation Policy Index

Ranks fifty-five nations' strategies to boost innovation capacity: policies on trade, scientific research, information and communications technologies, tax, intellectual property, domestic competition, government procurement, and high-skill immigration

An Assessment of Telecommunications Regulation Performance in the European Union

We assess the performance of National Regulatory Authorities across 16 EU countries regarding economic regulation in telecommunications sector, by constructing a so-called Composite Regulatory Performance Indicator for regulatory aspects such as effectiveness of the national regulatory system, effectiveness of the dispute settlement body, general market access conditions and application of remedies in markets for narrowband voice, mobile, broadband and business services. This composite indicator is the output measure used in the DEA non-parametric approach. The computation of efficiency scores allows to rank the NRAs and to detect some room for improvement in terms of efficiency gains for each national authority.technical efficiency; DEA; telecommunications; regulated industries; National Regulatory Authorities; European Union.

Comparison of R&D Expenditures in Selected Countries

This paper analyzes the level of innovation expenditures and R&D fund sources in selected countries of the world in the period of 2000 - 2010. The issues presented indicate significant differences between the discussed countries with respect to the factors analyzed. The European countries at the top were apparently Finland, Denmark and Sweden. High R&D expenditures, with a significant share in business enterprise sector, and a large number of patent applications reflected on the strong economic growth in these countries. The level of R&D investments in these countries was sometimes greater than in the USA or Japan. Dynamic growth in both R&D and patent activity has also been observed in South Korea. Special attention has been paid in this paper to the new European Union members - Central Eastern European Countries. Among this group of countries Slovenia definitely had the highest position, where R&D expenditures were the largest and the structure of R&D funds by source reflected a businessdominance type. Estonia, Czech Republic and Hungary were the countries ‘catching up’ - where growth in R&D expenditures has been observed as well as better dynamics of growth and higher patent activity. Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Latvia had relatively disadvantageous situations in respect of R&D development and the innovative activity of business enterprises.Celem artykułu była analiza poziomu i struktury finansowania działalności badawczo-rozwojowej w wybranych krajach oraz skonfrontowanie tych wskaźników z aktywnością patentową i innowacyjnością przedsiębiorstw. Okres badawczy stanowiły lata 2000-2010. Do zobrazowania podobieństw i różnic w nakładach na działalność B+R pomiędzy analizowanymi krajami zastosowano analizę skupień metodą Warda. Poziom finansowania działalności B+R polaryzuje Europę. Kraje Europy Północnej i Europy Zachodniej charakteryzują większe nakłady na B+R i większy udział przedsiębiorców w finansowaniu tych działań. Kraje będące w czołówce to Finlandia, Dania i Szwecja. Korzystne wyniki osiągają też Niemcy i Austriacy. Rumunia, Bułgaria, Litwa, Polska, Słowacja, Łotwa i Węgry to kraje z relatywnie niekorzystną sytuacją w zakresie rozwoju działalności B+R i innowacyjności podmiotów gospodarczych. Spośród krajów wschodniego regionu zdecydowanie wyższe pozycje w tym kontekście zajmuje Słowenia. Realizacja celów polityki UE w wielu krajach jest jeszcze odległa. Dalsze analizy powinny koncentrować się na znalezieniu optymalnego poziomu inwestycji w B + R w różnych sektorach

e-Participation in Austria: Trends and Public Policies

The paper is a first step to assess the status of e-participation within the political system in Austria. It takes a top-down perspective focusing on the policy framework related to citizens´ rights in the digital environment, the role of public participation and public policies on e-participation in Austria. The analysis of the development of e-participation in Austria as well as of social and political trends regarding civic participation in general and its electronic embedding, show a remarkable recent increase of e-participation projects and related initiatives. The paper identifies main institutional actors actively dealing with or promoting e-participation and reviews government initiatives as well as relevant policy documents specifically addressing and relating to e-participation or e-democracy. Finally, it takes a look at the state of the evaluation of e-participation. A major conclusion is that e-participation has become a subject of public policies in Austria; however, the recent upswing of supportive initiatives for public participation and e-participation goes together with ambivalent attitudes among politicians and administration towards e-participation.e-participation, e-democracy, citizens´ rights, institutional actors, public policies, government initiatives, evaluation